Saudi attack kills 20 fishermen in northwest Yemen

Yemeni fishermen push a boat to shore in the southern city of Mukalla in Yemen's Hadramawt Province on November 9, 2015. (AFP photo)

At least 20 Yemeni fishermen have been killed in Saudi Arabia's airstrikes in coastal areas, a report says.

Yemen’s al-Masirah TV said on Thursday that the fishermen were killed after Saudi warplanes pounded their boats off the coast of Zaqar Island and near Hanish Island in al-Hudaydah Province.

The report said several others were wounded when the Saudi aerial raids hit two Yemeni islands on the Red Sea.

Saudi airstrikes were also reported in the northern Sa’ada Province, a main bastion of Houthi Ansarullah movement and a major target of Saudi attacks over the past months.

Meanwhile, Saudi aircraft destroyed an arts and industrial center in Juhana, which is located just outside Yemen's capital, Sana'a.

An artwork by a Yemeni artist is seen hanging on a wall of a building destroyed by Saudi airstrikes as a tribute to people who were killed in the attacks, in the capital Sana'a, on October 8, 2015. (AFP photo)

Sources say the warplanes also carried out at least nine airstrikes across the oil-rich province of Ma’rib in west-central Yemen.

Yemen has been witnessing ceaseless airstrikes by Saudi Arabia since March 26. The military aggression is supposedly meant to undermine Ansarullah and bring fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power.

The Saudi aggression has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 7,500 people and injured over 16,000 others. The strikes have also taken a heavy toll on the impoverished country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

Human rights groups and international organizations have voiced deep concern over the rising number of civilian casualties in Yemen, calling for an end to the conflict.